Motoko's Equal
by Terry K. Tusk
Summary: Motoko, confused with which way to go in life, decides to go to a shrine of her ancestors. By some twist of fate she is transported back in time where she meets a samurai as skilled as her...will she fall in love with him or be brought to her knees.


**---I do not own any part of Love Hina, I am merely using the characters for my story---**

_---A/N I'm multi-tasking between 3 fics now; Keitaro's Love Life, Motoko's Equal, and a partnered fic that should be out soon---_

Well I know my other story isn't done but I wanted to start another so I have a choice to choose which one to work on when I want too. I'm hoping to write more now, updating one of my stories at least once a week...we'll see how that works out.

As for now why don't y'all just read and enjoy this story...don't forget to review it, I want to hear all comments good or bad...but please include constructive criticism if it's a bad review.

R&R

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.:Motoko's Equal:.

.:Ch. 1:.

.:May Destiny Unfold:.

Prologue:

The planets where beginning to align it the Autumn skies, it was said that once they formed a line that a gateway into the past would be opened for one and one alone to cross. It wasn't that it was fate's choice that this happened, this happening is the cause of one's destiny to cross the threads of time to find the place where she truly belongs for it is not an unnatural event for one to be born out of their own time, it is unnatural that they choose not to go with the time they are born in and that it must be set right, for it is the heavens will to maintain balance in the earth's life field.

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She had been in her room all day, she didn't know what to do or what was to become of her future. She wondered how life could go on, how it can always go on without stopping or thinking of what shall happen next. The past couple of weeks had been odd ones she had been training less and less every day, spending more time wondering over which path she should lead in her life, it had been like this all of Autumn wondering which road would be best for her to travel. Whether it be best to become one of the "normal women" of the world, giving up her heritage and her traditions to blend in more perfectly to the normal ways of life and become a wife to someone she loves or to stay single and continue to be a modern day samurai.

The hours ticked by while she was in meditation, still pondering about her uncertain future when an idea came to her. She would go to an ancient family temple, one that if she remembered right was no ordinary temple. Her sister had told her stories of the place, about how it's location dulled a warriors sixth sense being that it sat upon a large magnetic rock. She also told stories how the place was supposed to reveal one's destiny and show the path which one must take to reach it. There were also the tales she heard from here sister on how the places magnetic field kept evil spirits and demons at bay, allowing one to think clearly without being plagued by the aforementioned creatures. The journey to the temple would be a long one but she was willing to take it, if for anything to clear her mind.

Motoko got up to pack the things needed to complete this trip, she was hoping to reach the temple before nightfall of the next day. She packed a change of clothes, provisions for two days and a liter of water knowing there was a stream along the way to her ancestors temple that she could refill her bottle in. She grabbed her tsumaore gasa and her sword and left her room, looking back at it one last time before closing the door to it and walking down the stairs.

She ran into Keitaro and Naru who were heading up the stairs, holding each others hands, Motoko's heart beat faster at the sight of the two hand-in-hand for Keitaro had been the subject of her desire for quite some time. She had chosen to let him go so he could be with Naru, she felt it was the right decision, but for some reason she couldn't stop loving him, her heart just wouldn't let he go on.

"Where are you going Motoko?" Naru asked smiling cheerfully.

"I'm going on a _short_ trip, I'll be back in a couple of days. I just feel I need to find myself, so many emotions and thoughts rushing through my mind that I need to sort them out. I'll see you when I get back, bye for now..." Motoko said reaching the door and exiting the Hinata house.

"I hope she'll be alright." said Keitaro as they continued up the stairs and into Keitaro's room. Naru and him shared a room now since their relationship had been getting deeper and deeper for sometime now.

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Motoko had reached the last step going down from the Hinata Inn she looked to her side and say Haruka in her tea house sitting down and enjoying her ciggeratte. Haruka looked up and smiled and waved at Motoko as Motoko waved back. She turned and continued up the street heading into the mountains to the temple where she hoped to find her peace of mind. The night was calming, the breeze blew gently across her face, she was feeling more relaxed and less troubled already. After a couple of hours she looked up to the sky, the moon shining directly overhead, and figured it was already around midnight. A couple of miles later she found a clearing branching off from her path, it was surrounded by bamboo chutes creating a semi circle around a tree, she checked all around and decided it was best to stay here for the night.

She set down, back against the tree, sword in hand facing the opening, the only path leading into the clearing. She was ready for any danger that might awake her. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, drifted off to a place far away in another land, it may even have been in another time. The smells of a land untainted by the development of man field the air. She saw a lone man walking, he was tall, built but didn't look overly muscular, he had dark brown eyes and his hair was of the blackest black. He wore odd looking clothes, not that of a normal person from her time. He looked like a samurai in someways, but he carried no swords, no weapons of which she could see. His face looked kind and gentle yet she could since a powerful aura around him one that surpassed that of most humans.

She was awaken by a chatter of birds and the growl of some beast. She opened her eyes and looked around, cautiously at first but after a minute of looking she became more relaxed not seeing anything that could cause harm to her. It was a mere second that she saw it, a thing of orange and black leaping at her, and she responded to it in an equally fast manner.

"Baka." She sighed as she rolled from the tree sword in hand, leaving the role and getting to her feet. She saw what the beast was as soon as it turned and looked at her once again. It was a Bengal tiger teeth barred ready to bite her it pounced as Motoko drew her sword and with one quick slash downward she sent it flying backwards where it hit the tree and was knocked unconscious. She sheathed her sword gathered her things and continued on her journey hoping to be long gone before the tiger regained consciousness. The day continued normally as she walked along she was greeted by no problems and continued wondering about her future.

She almost reached the temple by nightfall, with only a few miles to go she was there within an hour after the sun had vanished beneath the sky. The last miles where easy traveling for the moon was unusually bright that night...or was it the moon, she couldn't tell the moon looked as bright as it did the nights before but the light cast from it illuminated the Earth with a bright glow, allowing her to see everything clearly. It was then that she noticed six bright stars, each almost unnoticeable hiding almost behind the star in front of it as if peeking out and watching her.

The temple finally came into view and it surprised her at how it was designed she walked up and stepped into the middle and looked around, and saw the four ten foot tall mirrors facing inward and put in the four direction; North, South, East, and West. She looked down at the floor and saw the symbol of fate etched into it. It was a giant circle surrounding a star. On the stars five points where the symbols of Water, Fire, Air, Earth, and Life and in the center of the circle was a small hemi-spherical indention which had a slanted mirror embedded into its sides facing each of the same four directions as the four large mirrors.

Her eyes shifted to the roof, which looked like a normal roof but in the center, above the indention in the ground was a glass circle, the same diameter as the semi-sphere indention on the ground too, from it she could see those same six bright stars, but it seemed they where getting closer, lining up one behind the other...

The shrine was her great great grandfathers shrine, he lived during the early years of the Edo period but was said to be a fierce samurai, letting nothing stand in the way of what he was after. She knelt down and began to meditate, the wind blew a leaf into the shrine which whisked across her neck and scared her, she normally would have sensed the leaf but her sisters stories where right, the sixth sense served no use here.

Hours of meditation had passed, she was engulfed in her dream like state, dull to everything around the world except all inside the area of the shrine. It must've been near midnight when she broke meditation to go do some relieve herself behind a bush. She got up looked up at the sky and saw only one star twice as bright as before. In an instant the star turned from blue to red, Motoko couldn't help but stare at it. She noticed it started to get closer and closer then all of a sudden she heard a otherworldly hum and the shrine filled with this reddish light. She looked up and saw the beam of light coming down from the glass hole in the roof. She moved over and looked down at the indention she was just standing over. The beam hit the center and spread out hitting each of the mirrors inside it which reflected the aura to each of the other larger mirrors.

The shrine seemed to form a wall around itself, Motoko could see no way to get out. The five symbols on each point of the star on the ground started to glow. The shrine started to spin, Motoko felt nauseous she dropped to get ground, lights were flashing all around her, her sense of balance as well as her five senses where all out of whack, she couldn't tell which way was up. Her body, for some reason shut down because of the odd events happening, her brain stopped sending messages except to keep her heart beating at a very slow pace and to keep her breathing. She was like this for many hours, her body laying there, lifeless barely keeping itself alive.

Birds started chirping, all at once her senses came back, the crisp smelling Autumn breeze, the sounds of birds and wildlife, the cold feel of the shrine floor across her naked body, she opened her eyes and could see it was morning she didn't try to move she just laid there, resting and thinking again.

'Wait why does the floor feel so cold against my body, I don't remember taking off my clothes' she thought as she jumped up looking around. She saw her clothes on the ground next to where she had lain, folded up with her tsumaore gasa on top and her katana beside it. She looked around to see if anyone was near, she listened to hear if anyone was coming. Once she was assured she was alone she picked up her clothes and started to get dressed. She had the bottom part of her outfit on when she heard a noise coming from the trees outside. She pulled the sleeves to the top part on when she heard someone's voice.

"Damn'it what the hell am I doing this for, I guess it's my good nature...I couldn't just leave her out here. She looked half dead, if I woulda left she would have died..."

She grabbed her sword and darted out the shrine, she saw a person coming from the trees she ran towards him sword drawn bringing it down across his chest. She tried to stop, it was the same man from her dream he was caring a bunch of logs. She was already too far into her downward slash to stop. The man looked up and saw her coming at him and within a fraction of a second dropped his logs and two wakazashis appeared in his hand.

"What in blaze's..." he said as she hit him with her sword, he managed to stop the blade with his two swords and throw her back, she hit the ground and skidded a little ways. "This is how you repay me!" he roared. Motoko jumped up and proceeded at him once again going for a horizontal slash this time.

"Repay you for what! Stripping me and doing God knows what else to me...is that what you mean?" she screamed. He caught her sword once again in between the edges of his swords.

"I didn't nothing of the sort, when I found you you laid there motionless soaked in your on sweat barely breathing. I merely took your clothes off and dried them around a fire and checked your heartbeat to see if you where all right."

At these words Motoko slowed her actions, the fire in her eyes was now gone. She sheathed her sword and spoke softly now.

"Oh...sorry sir, forgive me. No one I know knows where I headed too and being so I could only assume a stranger had done that and I figured the worst." she said as she bowed down.

"It's no problem at all Miss...erm, may I ask what is your name?"

"Motoko, Motoko Aoyama, what is yours sir?" she said still bowing.

"Manzo Akikado, now Miss Aoyama please make yourself decent and cover your chest." Manzo said, blushing heavenly.

Motoko stood straight up and looked down. She had yet to pull her robe closed and her entire chest was showing, she turned a violent violet shade and hurried up and closed her top and headed back to the shrine as Manzo gathered up the logs that he dropped. She sat down in the center of the shrine to rest, Manzo walked tot he shrine and set the logs down beside the opening into the building.

"So Manzo, how did you come to find this shrine?" Motoko asked looking down at her sword, still embarrassed that she forgot to cover herself before she charged at him.

"I've been here since my master died...wondering what to go onto. Master Taka-Shina was a kind person, told me as he lay dying to follow my path once he was gone, not to mourn for him to long and to get on with my life. I've been staying here ever since then trying to figure out what to do with my life."

"Taka-Shina...Taka-Shina...do you know his last name?" Motoko said staring at Manzo now.

"No, his name should be on the tomb stone in front of the shrine though, after all this shrine was built to honor him. I wouldn't know his last name, he never told me and I never learned how to read."

"What!" Motoko shouted excitedly as she jumped up and ran around the front of the shrine to check the tomb stone. If this was his masters shrine then that would mean his master was her great great great grandfather...which would mean...she thought as she dropped down and looked at the tombstone. It read:

**Taka-Shina Aoyama**

"Manzo this is one of my ancestors shrines...what year is this?" she said.

"Well it's around year 1623..." Manzo says but doesn't get to finish.

"WHAT! That means we're in the Edo period...how...when did this happen..." She said starting to fall apart. He goes over and touches her shoulder, she looks up at him with big eyes, her face sweating. He touched his cheek to her forehead.

"Oh dear...you must've caught a cold laying around in your wet clothes in this Autumn breeze this morning." He sad as he grabbed his futon from inside the shrine, spread it out and picked her up and laid her in it. "You rest here, we need to get you well again. I'm going to go gather some things for dinner."

"Dinner?" She said as she looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to go down already, in three hours it would be dark...she closed her eyes and fell asleep once again.

She awoke this time to the crackling of a fire. She turned to look and could feel the heat from it hit her face, Manzo was sitting there, roasting what looked like a couple of fish fillets. He had a pot of tea boiling over another small fire and sipping something from a steaming bowl in his hands. He looked at her and spoke.

"I made some noodles, found some spices out while looking around to give it some flavor...do you want a bowl?"

"Sure." Motoko softly responded, she was feeling sicker than earlier. Perhaps she did catch a cold.

"Ok, the fish should be ready in a minute and the tea is ready anytime you want some." He said preparing the noodles for her. She sat up looking around, it was night again and it was getting chilly.

"Here you go." Manzo said passing the bowl to Motoko who began to eat the noodles while they where hot.

"Where did you get the fish?" Motoko asked wondering.

"I caught them up the stream from here, I have a net. I used to catch master and I's fish every evening with it."

"Oh." she responded, and that was the end of their conversation. They ate the rest of the meal in silence and once it was over he laid down on the opposite side of the fire and nodded off to sleep and she did the same.

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Well I hoped y'all liked it. The next chapters should be more exciting this chapter was just to set it all up. I may change it to flow along with the following chapters but as for now I like it how it is.

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to read the following chapters.

Bye for now.


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